Using a lockup processor to search a table of keys whose entries

Details Using a lockup processor to search a table of keys whose entries Using a lockup processor to search a table of keys whose entries

1996-09-20

1998-06-30

Ellis, Richard L.

395898, G06F 702, G06F 946

Patent

active

057747393

ABSTRACT:
A method for searching for keys of arbitrary width in a table in a memory of a computer system by repeatedly executing lookup instructions on a lookup processor. The lookup processor executes a lookup instruction to find a key in a table. The execution of the lookup instruction results in a key being found, or a key not being found. If the key is not found, the process is requeued by a scheduler with the program counter register for the process pointing to the instruction immediately following the lookup instruction, i.e., the next instruction. In the event the key is found in the table, the entry in the table associated with the key contains the memory address of the next instruction to be executed. This memory address is loaded into the program counter register associated with the process in which the lookup instruction was executed. The scheduler requeues the process, later dequeues it, and the instruction pointed to by the program counter register is fetched by an instruction fetch unit. A dispatcher sends the process to the appropriate processor for execution of the next instruction. In this way, a branch to any instruction in the process can be performed. The instruction pointed to by the PC register can be another lookup instruction in the process. In this way, multiple lookup instructions can be sequentially executed, each specifying a different portion of a key of arbitrary width, or each specifying a particular key in a sequence of keys being searched for.

REFERENCES:
patent: 3713107 (1973-01-01), Barsamian
patent: 4094001 (1978-06-01), Miller
patent: 4558410 (1985-12-01), Hoizner et al.
patent: 4674039 (1987-06-01), Chouery
patent: 4862407 (1989-08-01), Fette et al.
patent: 4916655 (1990-04-01), Ohsone et al.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Using a lockup processor to search a table of keys whose entries does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Using a lockup processor to search a table of keys whose entries, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Using a lockup processor to search a table of keys whose entries will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1871022